1992 Mercedes-Benz W124 260E review from Japan

At 95000km, wiper motor became weakened.

At 102000km, water pump and alternator became bad, and were exchanged.

At 120000km, oil pump and brake hoses were exchanged.

At 138000km, wiper motor was dead.

At 139000km, air conditioner was broken.

Generally speaking, this car was tough and beautifully engineered. In fact, before 95000km, there had been no trouble except power windows starting to work slower.

But at 95000km, wiper motor became bad and had to be replaced with new motor, it would be a sign of fatigue.

Its mechanical element was largely built to last and heavy-duty. For example, after the repair of several troubles, she cruised as fast and smoothly as when it had been new. Even at more than 100000km, it could reach its manufacturer-quoted top speed of 210km/h (131mph) with no slightest hint of strain and stress. Thus its true top speed proved to be 224km/h (139mph), far more than manufacturer data.

Along with it, it reached 241km/h (150mph)! @6500rpm (well into redline) on chassis dyno, with recording 177.5bhp (more than quoted horsepower) at 120000km! I think such astonishing data for its catalogue data of 166bhp (124kW) /5800rpm were results of 0W-50 engine oil (higher in grade than its manufacturer recommended 5W-40 oil) and carbon removing chemical mixed into fuel.

Above all, the mechanical precision of Mercedes'2599cc 6-cylinder unit with 12 valves proved to be excellent through that performance data!

One major defect of my Mercedes 260E was poor fuel economy, as average fuel consumption of 8.7km/l far behind those of the Lexus LS460 with 4606cc/385bhp engine and Mercedes' own S500L with 5461cc displacement, to today's standard. But it is sure that this data was commendable enough in early 1990s, compared with the likes of Peugeot 605 SV3.0 and BMW525i with similar performance.

And its noisiness was barely tolerable. I think it was largely owing to low-gearing with final ratio of 3.27:1. As a result, my 260E was as noisy as today's Corollas and VW Golfs.

Considering several troubles and towering service costs, the total running cost of my 260E could be very abusive, roughly as much as the price of new Mercedes' small car as B-class! So I traded her for a brand-new Lexus IS350 late 2008 (last year).